Every Rose Dies
by Summersetlights
Summary: "These two tried to deny their feelings, but at the end of the day, they both played with the small hoop that was attached to their ears. The cool metal made their hands quake with memories."


_** Degrassi. Don't own it, bro.**_

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><p><em><strong>I. Roses<strong>_

On the eighteenth of May, many years ago, a very much in love couple picked up a small rose from the local flower stand. It was buried deep in a small pot and the flower just barely peeked out from above the dirt. The rose was vibrant and red and to the couple, it resembled their love. How it was still growing and it just needed a little bit of water- or, in their case, a little bit of work from both people - to make the flower bloom to its true beauty.

Through the years, this couple married and two kids popped into their world. Their marriage stayed strong, until their oldest daughter experienced life from hell and discovered the horrors of the world. And at this time, they paid little attention to the wilting flower that was sitting in the corner of their house. The red rose started to die as everyday went by, especially when the oldest daughter moved to Kenya and never came back. In their minds, they had failed as parents. Their youngest child, Clare Edwards, was a smart young creature and she knew that their flower was dying before they did.

Now, Clare Edwards watched as her parents fought and battled with their words. She watched as her father left everyday and observed her mother's tear-streaked face. And every once in a while, she'd glance at the flower. And with every moment of attention she gave the flower, it seemed to turn black. She wanted to water the poor plant, but she knew that she couldn't be the one to do it.

As every petal fell, she made a promise to herself. When the last petal would drop, she'd give up everything that she believed in.

**_II. Temptation_**

His name was Elijah Goldsworthy and he made her face light up and her stomach gurgle with butterflies that she couldn't control. He had a lopsided smirk that made her teeth dig into her lip. What he said was intelligent and she found herself going home and downloading the music he talked about and ordering the books that he mentioned.

For a smart girl, she always chose the wrong boys. But, this time, she knew that the boy was different. Maybe it was the way he looked at her, or the way he smiled when they talked; she didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to know if his lips were actually as soft as they looked. She wanted to know if he actually tasted like candy and if his hands were actually as skilled as she had imagined.

And when Elijah Goldsworthy kissed her in the library, she tasted his toothpaste and Lipton iced tea, and nothing seemed better than that. His tongue met hers and it was almost like a handshake. It was a greeting of sorts and their tongues danced something dangerous. His hand cupped the middle of her back and she relaxed into him, almost as if she were a rag doll. Her legs weren't cooperating, and when he pulled away, she couldn't speak. She knew that she probably looked like an idiot- not being able to talk and all.

Later on, Clare Edwards watched a knife speed to him- but then pierce the wall next to him. When she walked up to her room that night, she sat still in bed and let her mind drift. Her mind drifted from thought-to-thought and everything swirled around. She thought of what would have happened if the knife had found home in his skin and claimed his flesh as its own. The thought scared her and her sobs echoed throughout the house. And as she cried, she could feel petals from the rose fall away.

She didn't know why she was crying so hard for the almost-death, but she was. And she had a little inkling as to why she was. But this thought scared her.

They became inseparable after that. They became attached at the hip. As his secrets became more fierce, so did her attraction for him. To her, he was a misunderstood boy and she wanted to fix him. She felt something for him that she had never experienced before. It was rich and intimidating. It was rough, but so very gentle. But she couldn't possibly love the boy...

Oh, but she did. More than she could ever admit.

_**III. The Last Of The Rose**_

It started with a crunch.

And ended with a crash.

The once beautiful and strong relationship became tarnished and soiled, and it reminded Clare of her parents. It reeked of smoke when it blew up in flames. And these crimson flames grew and burned down city after city of what they had built. This mess of passionate desire went to a waste and washed away, leaving nothing but broken hearts in its rotting wake.

Sounds rather cliche, doesn't it?

And I suppose that it could be called that. But only to an onlooker's eye. Only to one that watched on certain parts of their relationship. But if you looked deeper into their messed up and damaged bodies, you'd see the hint of happiness that came with being in love. The desire of wanting each other to be happy, but the sore scratch of not being able to be the cause of such happiness.

These two tried to deny their feelings, but at the end of the day, they both played with the small hoop that was attached to their ears. The cool metal made their hands quake with memories. The earring was attached to their skin like a mole or a freckle. No matter how hard they tried, neither of them could take off the symbolic object.

Because, in a way, it stood for what they once were, and what they could be.

And two months from the crash, the last petal fell. But instead of being ecstatic, Clare felt a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach. So much had changed and in just in two months, her life had been turned upside down. She was almost dead in spirit and nothing was getting better. She picked it up in her soft hand and felt the pain wrapped in the old, rough petal.

She still loved the boy.

And to keep away that thought away, she thought of the dying rose and how everything dies.

_**IV. Realizations that burn gold**_

She shows up at his door, her expression stony. Her hand-holding a dead flower petal-shakes and twitches. Her eyes are distant and she talks to herself in a special kind of code that she doesn't understand. The world is moving at her feet can't find the bottom and the dead flower is weighing her down. The dry edges of the petal feels rough on her skin and she looks to Eli with an odd smile. He narrows his eyes in wonder, but Clare simply steps forward, and the petal falls with her step.

And then, it's wildfire. Their bodies desire the feel of flesh. With every breath came a power of heat. Their bodies clashed together in no time. And with heavy whispers, they said their greetings. With their hearts, they melted their words. Clare feels her wish come true. She's losing everything that she believes in, but instead of losing, she's gaining. The boy tries to push her away, but when she pulled off the clothes that adorned her body, his eyes went wide and that was it. Their skin was like burning ice, everything burned and cooled. And all that was heard that night was the cry of a virgin losing her innocence.

The boy tucked her into his side and whispered words to her that made every cell in her body jump. And when he feel asleep, she thought about the rose. How two people have to water it and take care of it. And Clare looked at the boy and smiled, leaving her ring on his nightstand. Clare thought about her parents and how their relationship sunk. How they completely fell apart in bitter wounds. She thought about how the rose fell and ripped open. And neither of them tried to stop it. She though about how she promised herself that she'd give up her beliefs. She laughed at that and looked at her naked finger. But instead of feeling lost, she felt...found. She figured out that she didn't stop believing in her beliefs. Her beliefs just grew.

And she couldn't help but realize that while everything dies, certain things grow in its absence.

In every situation, there is a rose. And Clare Edwards was realizing that she had to help every rose grow.

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><p><strong><em>Yupp. Don't like this, but I haven't posted in a while.<em>**

**_Review, please? :)_**


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